Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Evans backs new plan
Gillingham
Gillingham boss Steve Evans is fully behind a proposal to extend the play-offs to include eight teams.
It is yet to be decided whether the season in League 1 is to be completed or stopped and if it’s halted now whether to include promotion, relegation and the play-offs.
Those talks are ongoing. The EFL had a board meeting on Wednesday and were expected to put proposals to clubs thereafter. League 2 clubs agreed to end their season last week, deciding places on points per game. If the same method is applied to League 1 then the Gills would jump up to 10th in the table, swapping places with Ipswich Town. Peterborough United co-owner Darragh Macanthony is heading a six-team consortium who want the season to be played out on the pitch. One of his ideas was to promote the top two and for places three to 10 to play-off. Evans said “I think it is an outstanding idea and it has gained a bit of momentum. “The first thing you have to do is make sure everyone has played level games. You can’t finish a league table and say that some teams have played a game more or two games less. “Points per game are going to settle League 2 so therefore it has to be uniform, it can’t be that it is a good rule for one and then it’s not a good rule for League 1. “If we do it on points per game average we would be top 10 and within the play-off group.
“It doesn’t matter if you are the size of Ipswich Town, a club I have the utmost respect for, the highest regard for.
“No big clubs can get a free wildcard, if you don’t have the points you’re not involved.” Clubs could still vote to play the remainder of the regular fixtures, plus the normal fourteam play-offs, but the finances are putting many teams off. Coronavirus testing alone is set to cost clubs £140,000.
And with matches being played behind closed doors, clubs won’t be gaining any matchday revenue. Any decisions made will need to be voted for by over half of the clubs.
If the Gills do get to play again this season then they will hope the EFL and the FA will look favourably at loan players. They have been sent back to save money.
Evans said: “I think there is a case for all clubs, not just us, to have dispensation for loan players that have perhaps gone back or gone out, to be involved and play, providing of course we are going to pay the level of wages that we were prior to the season finishing.”
Loan players Jordan Roberts and Jordan Graham are both set to be free agents this summer. Ipswich Town say they won’t be offering Roberts fresh terms and Premier League side Wolves have said Graham is leaving them too.